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The Intellectuel Debate in Britain on the European Union

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The Intellectuel Debate in Britain on the European Union GROUPEMENT D'ETUDES ET DE RECHERCHES NOTRE EUROPE President : Jacques Delors THE INTELLECTUEL DEBATE IN BRITAIN ON THE EUROPEAN UNION Stephen George Jean Monnet Professor, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield Research and Policy Paper N° 5 October 1998 44, Rue Notre-Dame des Victoires 75002 Paris Tel : 01 53 00 94 40 e-mail : [email protected] http://www.notre-europe.asso.fr Study avalaible in French, English and German © Notre Europe, October 1998. Notre Europe “Notre Europe” is an independent research and policy unit whose objective is the study of Europe – its history and civilisations, path to integration and future prospects. The association has started work in January 1997. It has a small, multi-national team of six in- house researchers (French, German, Belgian, Italian, Portuguese and British), chaired by Jacques Delors. “Notre Europe” participates in public debate in two ways. First, publishing internal research papers and second, collaborating with outside researchers and academics to produce contributions to the debate on European questions. The association also organises meetings and conferences in association with other institutions and publications. It published its first book, "France-Allemagne: le bond en avant", in March 1998 (Eds. Odile Jacob). FOREWORD This paper is the third in a series published by the Research and Policy Unit, "Notre Europe", chaired by Jacques Delors, which aims to take a fresh look at the impact of the process of European integration on the future of the nation-state by examining the intellectual debate within the Member States of the European Union. The first two studies were published as part of a collection of texts on the Franco-German relationship: "The nation and Europe: the German debate", by Dr. Donate Kluxen-Pyta of the University of Bonn, and "The new European crisis of conscience: political Europe between nation and federation. A French viewpoint", by Laurent Bouvet, Doctor of Political Science and researcher at the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris and at the University of Sienna.1 Interestingly, this third study differs in style, although not in quality, from those on France and Germany in several respects. First and foremost, the very notion of "intellectual" debate sits uneasily with the traditional British pragmatic approach to all matters European. Stephen George, Jean Monnet Professor at the Department of Politics of the University of Sheffield, argues that Britain does not have a distinct class of intellectuals. As a consequence, some of the debate can be "parochial and somewhat unsophisticated". Second, despite the recent proliferation of so-called "think-tanks" on both the left and right which have an increasing input into the political debate on Europe, this rather small circle of intellectual opinion has little impact on popular perceptions. Another striking feature of the UK debate today is that it tends to focus on the question of economic and monetary union, although the arguments put forward by the left and right reflect more general attitudes towards the EU. Yet, Professor George concludes on an optimistic note, highlighting original thinking on other questions, such as democratic legitimacy, particularly from the pro-European left, which he hopes will make a positive contribution to the EU debate and encourage Britain to embrace a European future. We hope that "The Intellectual Debate in Britain on the European Union" will also complement our publication earlier this year of Lionel Barber's paper, "Britain and the New European Agenda" (updated and translated into French and German from the English version, published by the Centre for European Reform, London) and so lead to a better understanding of the debate in the UK. 1 "France-Allemagne: Le Bond en Avant", Editions Odile Jacob, Paris, 1998. Our long-term ambition is to publish similar studies for each of the Member States in order to provide a panorama of the intellectual debate on the future of European integration throughout the Union. INTRODUCTION The intellectual debate in Britain on the European Union (EU) has divided along political lines. The issue cuts across the right-left division in British politics, and this has produced a debate within the right and a debate within the left, but no real debate across the right-left divide. Many of the arguments are heard on both sides of the political divide, but essentially there are two separate debates. Recently both the debates have centred on monetary union, and whether Britain should join the single currency, although underlying the arguments put forward on this issue are more general attitudes towards the EU. In many ways the arguments remain essentially the same as they were at the time of the British referendum on membership of the European Community (EC) in 1975. Individuals may have shifted their positions, and the focus of the argument may have moved on with events, but the debate continues to be between a position that believes that British membership of the EC / EU / single currency is a good thing, and another position that doubts it. Following what has become accepted terminology, the two sides of the debate both on the right and on the left will be described as “pro-Europeans” and “Eurosceptics”. It must be emphasised that this paper is concerned with the intellectual debate, not the political debate. This has two implications. First, the space given to the different voices in the debate does not necessarily reflect their political importance. In particular, the anti-European left is increasingly an isolated group within the politics of the Labour Party. Second, there is a gap between the intellectual debate and popular perceptions. As one academic observer said in private correspondence with the author about this project, “it seems to me that in talking about the intellectual debate in Britain, the point needs to be made about just how far removed this is from popular debate, where the media pick on the extremist anti-integrationist views so readily, turning them into banner headlines, without ever considering any of the reasoned debate that is going on in think-tanks, research institutions etc. I know very little of France or Germany first hand, but I suspect that at least in France, where philosophical debate is more a part of the popular intellectual landscape, reasoned debate is more widespread (or am I just being naive?).”1 French and German readers of this paper in particular will have their own ideas about whether this view of France and Germany is naive, but the point is valid for Britain that the intellectual debate scarcely impinges on the popular perception. If there is to be a referendum on the single currency, perhaps the national debate will have to be engaged; until then, the discussion remains confined to a relatively small circle of intellectual opinion. However, this does not mean that it is unimportant in shaping the parameters of political debate. THE DEBATE ON THE RIGHT Some of the main contributions to this debate have been made by Conservative politicians, including senior former cabinet ministers. This reflects the impact on the Conservative Party of the European issue. It has divided the Party more than any issue since the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846.2 The Conservatives have always been the party of big business, but also the party of nationalism. The European issue has driven a wedge between these two elements of Conservatism. It has become increasingly obvious that large sections of business are apprehensive about the effect on them of Britain being semi-detached from developments in the EU. This was the reason given by Sir Geoffrey Howe for his resignation from his position as Margaret Thatcher's deputy in 1990.3 At the same time, other leading Conservatives have adopted the argument that the EU must remain a Europe of nation states. The pro-European right On the pro-European right the leading voices are those of former cabinet ministers: Sir Geoffrey Howe, Michael Heseltine, Kenneth Clarke, and Sir Leon Brittan (the Vice-President of the European Commission).4 However, the Conservative Group for Europe has also contributed significantly through its series of pamphlets by less prominent pro-European Conservatives.5 Their argument for British membership of the single currency is that it will be beneficial for business and consumers because it will eliminate the costs of foreign exchange transactions and fluctuations in exchange rates with our main trading partners, make pricing more transparent, and make a reality of the single market. It should also produce the price stability that has tended to evade British governments. Quentin Davies, a Conservative backbench MP, says that all Conservatives should support EMU under the Maastricht conditions because it will erect institutional barriers to governments manipulating the money supply for political purposes. This in turn will lead to lower interest rates and a more favourable environment for industrial investment.6 Now that it is clear that the single currency will go ahead, the pragmatic argument is put that it is dangerous for Britain to remain outside of the monetary union. British businesses could be disadvantaged in competing for business within the single market because they are operating in a foreign currency, whereas their competitors will be using the same currency as their customers. The pre-eminence of the City of London in financial markets might be put at risk if Britain remains outside of the single currency. Interest rates will remain higher in Britain than within the monetary union because the financial markets will demand a premium against the greater risk of devaluation. Foreign direct investment might start to go to countries that are inside the monetary union to avoid the risks of exchange rate fluctuations and the transaction costs.
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